Konica Business Machines, Inc. v. The Vessel "Sea-Land Consumer"

This “cargo overboard” case presents two questions: whether the evidence supports a general custom of stowing shipping containers on deck under a clean bill of lading and whether the district court properly limited the carrier’s liability for cargo loss under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (“COGSA”). 46 U.S.C. app. § 1304. Konica Business Machines (“Konica”) appeals the district court’s judgment in favor of Konica for $44,000. The district court found that the terms of the bill of lading limited Sea-Land Service, Inc.’s (“Sea-Land”) liability to $1,000 for each Ko-nica photocopy machine that fell overboard in the North Pacific Ocean from the vessel Consumer. 1 We agree and affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Konica purchased 44 photocopiers from Konica Corporation of Japan (“Konica Japan”) which, in turn, contracted with Sea-Land to ship the copiers from Yokohama, Japan to Long Beach, California. Sea-Land issued Konica Japan a clean bill of lading. A clean bill of lading is a contract for carriage of goods that does not specify where the goods will be stowed but effectively represents under-deck cargo stowage.

The Consumer is a specially-designed con-tainership with…